WPLN interviewed Tennessee State Economic and Community Development (ECD) Commissioner Randy Boyd about ECD’s plans to open multiple investment recruitment offices around the world, starting with one in Seoul, South Korea this year, and eventually adding one in northern Italy, southern Germany, and one or two in China.

“Businesses in Italy or in China don’t know that much about Tennessee. They may not even be able to find us on a map, so just hoping that they might show up at our door one day and decide to locate here is pretty unrealistic,” he says.

He says it helps to have people there full-time. “We can do mission trips, but just sending over people for one or two weeks a year is not going to be terribly effective,” he says.

For more from the article or to listen to the radio broadcast, visit the WPLN website.

On Wednesday, May 20, in Knoxville, Tennessee, Elizabeth Rowland, Executive Director of TN-China Network, gave a book talk about Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China by Evan Osnos. The talk was part of the Knox County Public Library’s monthly lunchtime book discussion series, Books Sandwiched In, and was made possible through a partnership with TN-China Network and by the generous support of the Friends of Knox County Public Library.

Elizabeth Rowland discussed topics from the book, drawing on her experiences living and working in China, where she founded an online jewelry company that sourced from China; served as a policy analyst for the American Chamber of Commerce in China; and served as senior manager of policy analysis with the Beijing office of an international law firm.

A podcast of this event can be listened to on or downloaded from the Knox County Public Library’s website.